The Forest is one of my favorite survival games and so I was obviously really excited for it's sequel. I've been following the development from Sons of the Forest closely and played it during it's early acces phase rather sporadically. Now the full Version has been released for roughly 2 month and I've finally beat the game with my friend.
Our overall experience was positive but we both agreed on the fact that Sons of the Forest doesn't reach the heights from it's predecessor. Due to the Map being way too big and rather empty, traversing it often feels like a slog. Yes they added vehicles like the Golfcart or the Knight V which are both cool additions but using these vehicles can get annonying because you are running into trees all the time. There are also less animals and less blueprints, examples for this would be the missing of boats. I found the story also less compelling then the story from the first game because it lacked motivation. Which was better executed in The Forest with the big hole in the middle of the map being a core driving factor for mystery and your reason to explorer.
But it's not all bad, the overall production value is higher, every mechanic feels more fleshed out and the many new animations are a great addition. The performance is also way better then in early access and the game runs way smoother. I also liked the improved building system and it was just fun building your base with your friends. But the problem was that there is no real reason for your to build a base. Since you can carry every important item in your inventory and exploring takes so much time due to the size of the map that you are rarely at your base. My favorite new additions would be Kelvin and Virginia, both characters were very useful even if the AI wasn't the best at times. The ending that you get with Virginia was also hilarious and I would have never expected that you impregnate her
All in all still a really fun game with beautiful graphics, a solid survival foundation and it's even more fun with your friends. The story is rather lackluster because I think finding your own son is more compelling then finding a random billionaire.
Games I finished in 2024 ranked
My favorite survival games ranked
Our overall experience was positive but we both agreed on the fact that Sons of the Forest doesn't reach the heights from it's predecessor. Due to the Map being way too big and rather empty, traversing it often feels like a slog. Yes they added vehicles like the Golfcart or the Knight V which are both cool additions but using these vehicles can get annonying because you are running into trees all the time. There are also less animals and less blueprints, examples for this would be the missing of boats. I found the story also less compelling then the story from the first game because it lacked motivation. Which was better executed in The Forest with the big hole in the middle of the map being a core driving factor for mystery and your reason to explorer.
But it's not all bad, the overall production value is higher, every mechanic feels more fleshed out and the many new animations are a great addition. The performance is also way better then in early access and the game runs way smoother. I also liked the improved building system and it was just fun building your base with your friends. But the problem was that there is no real reason for your to build a base. Since you can carry every important item in your inventory and exploring takes so much time due to the size of the map that you are rarely at your base. My favorite new additions would be Kelvin and Virginia, both characters were very useful even if the AI wasn't the best at times. The ending that you get with Virginia was also hilarious and I would have never expected that you impregnate her
All in all still a really fun game with beautiful graphics, a solid survival foundation and it's even more fun with your friends. The story is rather lackluster because I think finding your own son is more compelling then finding a random billionaire.
Games I finished in 2024 ranked
My favorite survival games ranked
Reviewed on Mar 19, 2023
SkeletonGrimm67
2 days ago